BREAKING: Government Approves Death Sentence for Child Rapists

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India’s government on Saturday approved the death penalty for child rapists, after the gang rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl and a series of other sexual assaults that caused nationwide outrage.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called a cabinet meeting to pass the measure Saturday on his return from the Commonwealth summit, a government official told AFP.

India’s cabinet Saturday approved the ordinance amending laws on sexual violence to allow for capital punishment for those convicted of raping children below the age of 12, the official said.

Minimum jail sentences for convicted rapists of teenage victims were also toughened.

“The ordinance will be sent to the president for his consent,” the official said on condition of anonymity. The president’s approval is seen as a formality.